PALAKASAN SYSTEM: A TUMOR THAT SLOWLY KILLS PHILIPPINES’ EDUCATION
PALAKASAN SYSTEM : A TUMOR THAT SLOWLY KILLS PHILIPPINES’ EDUCATION The Philippines was once regarded as one of the “Tiger” countries in terms of education in Asia. The trajectory of this prestige starting the early 90’s had rapidly changed as it moved towards the millennial . Causes such as slow economic growth, inadequate government revenues and population explosion are the leading factors in this decline. Corruption in the management and distorted practices worsen the problem. In the Department of Education, the agency that is responsible for the national access to quality basic education, there are practices that are said to be open secret such as the presence of “ Padrino System” or in layman’s vocabulary is called “ Palakasan ” wherein government vacancies are filled according to the concept of nepotism and cronyism. These two acts are rampant especially in the screening process. Teacher-applicants who are related to the hiring officer either by blood or by certain political